Nearly a third of people want to own their own home but do not think they ever will, a new survey has found.
However, optimism levels are higher among under 35s, with nearly two thirds saying that they think that they will own their own house in the next decade.
The research was conducted by Amárach Research on behalf of the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland and involved 1,200 adults being questioned.
It found nearly two thirds of the adult population are already homeowners, with a quarter renting.
12% live with friends or relatives, the survey revealed.
Of those who do own their own homes, a third are owner occupiers without a mortgage, while 30% are owner occupiers who still have a loan on their home.
Among renters, 16% are renting from a private landlord with 8% renting from an approved housing body, council or local authority.
A third of 18-34 year olds are living with friends or relatives and 29% are renting from a private landlord, the research found.
28% of this age group own their own home with or without a mortgage.
Around half of 35-44 year olds and 45-54 year olds are owner occupiers with a mortgage.
Six out of every 10 adults have lived at their current address for more than 10 years, with almost three quarters of these owner occupiers.
A majority of adults said they do not have any plans to move from their current address, which just over a third do plan to move at some point, the result showed.
Nearly three-quarters of owner occupiers have no plans to move, but 59% of all non-owner occupiers plan to live in their current home for up to five years before moving.
Nearly half of all non-homeowners believe it will be up to 10 years before they buy their own home, the study revealed.
29% want to own a home but don’t think they ever will, although under 35s are more optimistic about buying a home within the next 10 years.
40% of non-homeowners aged 35-44 and half of 45+ year olds want to own a home but don’t think they ever will.
"Today’s survey results confirm again that owning your own home is an important goal for many people," said Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI.
"While about two-thirds of households already own their home, almost nine in ten of non-homeowners expect or want to buy a home and one in three households currently renting expect to buy a home in the next five years."
"This shows there is a strong demand for both new and second-hand homes. Mortgage lenders are working hard to meet that demand with more than 30,000 first-time buyer mortgages approved in the twelve months ending August 2023 as well as about 12,000 approvals for home movers over the same period."
